The Meaning of Revolution

An attempt to destroy a political system necessarily coincides with an attempt to destroy the economy of that system. Economic sabotage is not the fictitious activity of nonexistent groups. It is the activity of real enemies, foreign and domestic. Watch the players at work. Consider which nations are manipulating oil prices, grain prices, and strategic metals. Ask yourself what their goal is. Why are they doing it? Are they attempting to raise the standard of living within their own countries, or attempting to smash the standard of living in the United States? In a recent speech on August 3, David Horowitz said, “We are in a war with enemies both internal and external who seek our destruction.” Horowitz was accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Young America’s Foundation. If anyone understands America’s internal enemy it is Horowitz. He was raised by communists, and broke with the Left when he realized what the Left actually signifies.

Who are the enemies spoken of by Horowitz? Most Americans cannot answer this question, because the unnamed enemy does not appear openly in a direct assault upon our system. Yes, there are the Islamists. But these are merely a front, a facade. The real enemy, in this case, is the totalitarian Left. To understand how this enemy operates, you must understand the concept of “revolution” and how it applies to present-day events.

History teaches that revolutions periodically occur. Often, revolutions follow in the wake of financial crises and wars. To make a revolution the revolutionary must therefore pay attention to crisis situations and wars. The Marxists were the first to consciously predicate themselves on the inevitability of economic breakdown, and Vladimir Lenin was the first to successfully exploit a systemic breakdown to seize power.

In October 1920 Lenin defined his revolutionary attitude in the following way:

…the revolutionary is not a revolutionary if he has any sympathy for this world. He should not hesitate to destroy any position, any place or any man in this world. He must hate everyone and everything in it with equal hatred. All the worse for him if he has any relations with parents, friends or lovers; he is no longer a revolutionary if he is swayed by these relationships.